According to a source, Manchester United players thought Erik ten Hag would be fired and only found out the Dutchman would stay on after the news went public.
On Tuesday night, the Red Devils announced that Ten Hag will stay on as their United head coach, ending their lengthy hunt for a new manager.
After a disappointing season at Old Trafford, United went into the summer with a list of possible contenders to replace Ten Hag. The two parties are currently negotiating a new contract.
Even though Manchester United finished seventh in the Premier League, a club record, they still won the FA Cup at Wembley to qualify for the Europa League.
The Telegraph reports that the players were taken aback by the announcement and that many thought it was his final game as a manager at the club. Furthermore, the squad was mainly kept in the dark about the situation because of international commitments, among other reasons.
According to one source, “surprisal appears to have been the players’ primary response to the news.” They were genuinely clueless about the situation.
Although there are still concerns about Ten Hag’s communication style, the outlet claims that the players are “pleased” that the ambiguity around the management hot seat has been cleared up. However, his FA Cup triumph has been cited as a plus.
Before the news of this week broke, INEOS had considered Thomas Frank, Mauricio Pochettino, and Thomas Tuchel as possible replacements in the event that Ten Hag was fired. Tuchel removed himself from the position after meeting with Sir Jim Ratcliffe in Monaco last week.
After the season ended, United conducted a performance evaluation that included talks with Ten Hag.
After weighing all possible outcomes, they are reported to have concluded unequivocally that Ten Hag, 54,
Mail Sport is aware that United executives want to observe Ten Hag’s operations within what they hope will be a new framework designed to give him the best chance to succeed.
